Dunga's Brazil, more sombre than Samba

Many feel Dunga has taken the fun out of Brazil

Dunga is the Portuguese name for Dopey, the smallest of Snow White's seven dwarfs, but for many people it would have been more appropriate if Brazil's coach had been named after Grumpy.

Real name Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, Dunga often seems as if he would be more at home with a dour European team rather than the flamboyant five-times champions, who many neutrals look to for World Cup inspiration.

Dunga, who snarled his way through three World Cups as a hard-tackling midfielder, has won the Copa America and Confederations Cup in his three-and-a-half years as coach but many feel he has taken the fun out of Brazil.

He has famously labelled Brazil's 1982 team, who played some of the best attacking football ever seen at a World Cup but failed to win the trophy, as "specialists in losing".

It's all about efficiency, says Dunga

After seeing his team splutter to a 2-1 win over rank outsiders North Korea, Dunga praised his team for their efficiency -- a word which, in the context of Brazilian football, sounds almost blasphemous.

"It's all about efficiency," he said. "Everyone has to be efficient, in attack and defence. Without that you don't get anywhere."

Dunga has never had much time for the concept of the "Jogo Bonito" (Beautiful Game), as Brazilian football is often called, and has turned them into a team who play on the counter-attack and score a large percentage of goals from set pieces.

His 23-man squad includes only four strikers and he regularly packs his midfield with spoilers.

It works very well against teams who attack Brazil, but his side often look at a loss when faced with a packed defence.